Railroad-tie.



W. N. STEUART.

RAILROAD TIE.

APPLIUATION FILED 13110.13. 1912.

1 ,088,940, Patented Mar. 3, 191,4.

- Wie/2359.5 fjulewvr:

CULuMmA PLANOORAPH c0wAsmN010N. D. c

WILMOT N. STEUART, 0F BROOKFIELD, OHIO.

RAILROAD-TIE.

nesesito.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

Application led December 13, 1912. Serial No. 736,653.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, IVILMOT N. STEUART, acitizen of the United States of America, residing at Brooklield, in thecounty of Trumbull and State of Ohio, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Railroad-Ties, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in railroad ties in which the railsare held in position by clamps fastened on resilient, bow-formed platesor saddles attached to the ties. I am aware that the use of suchsaddles, either in single or double, in pairs; and the use of clipsformed by bending over cars left cut for the purpose so as to extendbeyond the level of the tops of such saddles and to overlap one flangeof the rail when seated, are not new and, in themselves, they form nopart of my invention and I do not claim them broadly or per se.

The objects of my invention are, first, to provide a cushioned, concreterailroad tie on which the rails are 'supported resiliently; second, toincrease the resiliency of the rail supports without reducing theirstrength; third, to provide more effective means for retaining the railsin position on the saddles and at the same time reduce the number ofparts, the cost of such retainers and the time required to put them inoperation; and, fourth, to provide effective, cheap and easily operablemeans for repairing the rail retainers if they break in part, and torenew them in their entirety if they are beyond repair, withoutdisturbance of the ties, rails or saddles.

I attain those objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which* Figure 1, is a longitudinal vertical sec tional viewthrough one end of a concrete railway tie in accordance with myinvention. Fig. 2, is a perspective of my improved rail supportingsaddle with a broken away piece of a railroad rail secured therein by myimproved rail retainer; and Fig. 8, is a perspective of my railretainer.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

A railroad tie l is made by pouring concrete into a mold after a pair oftie supporting saddles Q have been positioned so as to stand partiallyembedded near either end thereof, and attached to and connected by areinforcing bar 2. The saddles 2 can be,

and sometimes are made of a single strip of flat metal so bent as toform a. table 3', outwardly extending legs l', 4' and flat feet 5', 5',but as a preferred form I use also a second strip of .metal superimposedon the first one and having a table 8, legs 4, t, slightly longer thanlegs fl', 4', and terminating in feet 5, 5, shorter than feet 5', 5', towhich latter they may be welded, or the respective pairs of legs may bebolted together by bolts G, 6, which may extend down into the concreteto lend stability. As suggested, saddles so constructed are not new, butto increase their resiliency without reducing their strength I put aplurality of horizontal'cor rugations 7, 7 in the legs t and et'.

In practice it is found that heavy trains tend to cant rails outward,often causing spreading of the rails and consequent disasters; toobviate that danger others have anchored the outer legs to the ties,leaving the feet of the inner legs loosely attached to the ties topermit of an inward sliding movement thereof. Such a construction wouldbe impracticable in the use of concrete ties and I prefer that both feetof each saddle be held in a rigid .fixed relation to the tie itself, asbeing a better and stronger construction, wherefore I obtain the sameresult of preventing the outward canting or turning over of the rail andof allowing the same give or displacement toward the center of the trackfor each rail by corrugating the inside legs of the saddle only, asshown at corrugations 7', 7', in Fig. 1. I consider and claim thatimprovement as of vital importance in railroad tie construction, whetheradapted to concrete, metal or wooden ties.

In Fig. 3 I have shown `a rail retainer 8, formed from a metal sheet andhaving a plurality of lips 9, 9, 9', 9' and l0, 10', made by part-waycuts` horizontally of said sheet, and having preferably a plurality ofholes ll, ll therethrough, conveniently located to correspond with holesthrough the tables 3 of saddles Q. I weld, or otherwise attach aretainer 8 on each saddle Q. For convenience in packing, the lips 9, 9,9', 9' and l0, 10"

may be lett flat, as lips l0, 10' are shown. For use the outer lips areturned up as at 9', 9' and. after a rail has been seated on the retainerS, four of the lips. 9, 9 and 9', 9', are sledged down over the flangesl2 of the rail la. If either of the lips 9, 9, 9 or 9', become brokenthe retainer 8 can be repaired by bending up and sledging over the lipsl0, 10 to reinforce those remaining intact'. One of the chief advantagesof this feature of my improvement is that in any case where a trackwalker finds a defect-ive rail retainer, whatsoever may be the reasonfor or condition of it, he can pry up a rail with a crowbar and,slipping in a new retainer S, on top of the old one, can sledge its lips9, 9 and 9, 9 over the rail flanges l2, 12 after having first bolted thenew retainer S on top of the old retainer by bolts passing through theholes 11, 11 and the corresponding holes through the table 3, 3.

Having clearly pointed out and disclaimed originality as to all of thefeatures used in my improved method of securing railroad rails to tieswhich have hereto-fore been used or patented, and the advantagesaccruing from my improvements thereof being apparent l claim l. Thecombination with a concrete railroad tie and a railroad rail, of railsupporting saddles partly embedded therein near the extremities of saidtie, and comprising a top table, out spreading legs corrugated above theconcrete, and horizontal feet in line with the tie longitudinally; arail retainer welded o-n said table and consisting of a horizontal metalplate having a plurality of lips on either side thereof-suitably formedto be crimped over the flanges of the railroad rail.

2. The combination of a concrete railroad tie and railroad rail, with asupporting saddle for said rail consisting of a table for attachment ofthe rail, feet embedded in said tie and legs, having horizontalcorrugations above the top line of said concrete.

8. ln a saddle for a railroad rail seated above a railroad tie, obtuselyangled legs eX- tending from the top of said saddle and rigidly attachedto said tie, and having horizontal corrugations in said legs.

4L. yhe combination of a railroad tie and rails,with saddles to supportsaid rails, comprising tables at their tops, feet at their bottoms,rigid legs on the outsides and corrugated, obtusely inclined legs on theinsides, relatively of the railroad track.

5. rlhe combination Wit-h a railroad tie, a railroad rail, a supportingsaddleV for said rail and a rail retainer welded to said saddle, o-fsecond retainer having a plurality of lips for engagement with and overthe flanges of said rail, on either longitudinal edge of said retainerandrhaving holes therethrough for the reception of bolts passing throughcorresponding holes in said first, welded, retainer.

6. ln combination with railroad ties, rail saddles attached thereto,rails seated thereon and retainers for holding said rails in positionand having bolt holes therethrough; supplemental rail retainers capableof attachment by holes through said holes to said first retainers andhaving their longitudinal edges adapted for clamping over the flanges ofsaid rails.

7. The combination with railroad ties and rails, of saddles, to supportand retain them in position, rigidly attached at their fee-t to saidties and having legs of unequal resiliency, for the purpose set forth.

8. The combination with a concrete railroad tie and a railroad rail, ofrail supporting saddles partly embedded in said tie near itsextremities, and attached to and connected by a reinforcing bar, andcomprising a top table, out spreading legs corrugated above theconcrete, and horizontal feet in line with the tie longitudinally; arail retainer welded on said table and consisting `of a horizontal metalplate having a plurality of lips on either side thereof suitably formedto be crimped over the flanges of the railroad rail.

fn testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILMOT N. STEUART. Witnesses:

H. HAROLD, J. F. HAYES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

